The 4th annual HollyShorts Screenplay Contest is proud to announce its list of finalists. The top 3 screenplays will be announced/awarded at the HollyShorts Awards Ceremony August 19th and the winning script receives a $10,000 production deal courtesy of Evil Slave. The completed short will screen at the Academy Qualifying 2018 HollyShorts Film Festival at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres. Also, the top 3 prize winners will receive Final Draft software and True Vision Entertainment stage rental prizes.

Hollywood, August 17, 2017— Brett Ratner, one of Hollywood’s most successful filmmakers, will close the Academy Awards® qualifying 13th Annual HollyShorts Film Festival with a special Keynote conversation presented by Kodak Motion Picture and Entertainment. The Conversation will take place during the HollyShorts Awards this Saturday, August 19, at the Harmony Gold Theater moderated by Steve Bellamy, Kodak’s President of Motion Picture and Entertainment.

HollyShorts is an annual celebration of short form content and the world’s most prestigious short form festival, with over 400 of the top short films from the next generation of storytellers. The Keynote is open to all official HollyShorts badge holders and filmmakers. Only 100 regular tickets are still available for the conversation and can be purchased by visiting hollyshorts.com. Past HollyShorts Icons and participants include: David Lynch, Eli Roth, Paul Haggis, Joe Carnahan, Matthew Modine, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Zachary Quinto, Kirsten Dunst, Demi Moore, Jennifer Morrison and Chad Michael Murray among others.

Brett Ratner is one of Hollywood’s most successful filmmakers. His diverse films resonate with audiences worldwide and, as director, his films have grossed over $2 billion at the global box office. Brett began his career directing music videos before making his feature directorial debut at 26 years old with the action comedy hit Money Talks. He followed with the blockbuster Rush Hour and its successful sequels. Brett also directed The Family Man, Red Dragon, After the Sunset, X-Men: The Last Stand, Tower Heist and Hercules.

Ratner has also enjoyed critical acclaim and box office success as a producer. He has served as an executive producer on the Golden Globe and Oscar winning The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Black Mass, starring Johnny Depp, and War Dogs, starring Jonah Hills; and as a producer on Truth, starring Robert Redford and Cate Blanchett; I Saw the Light, starring Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen, Rules Don’t Apply, written, directed and produced by Warren Beatty and the Academy Award nominated Land of Mine directed by Martin Zandvliet. His other produced films include the smash hit comedy Horrible Bosses and its sequel, and the re-imagined Snow White tale Mirror Mirror. His additional producing credits include the documentaries Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Author: The JT LeRoy Story, Catfish, the Emmy-nominated Woody Allen – A Documentary, Helmut by June, I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale, Chuck Norris vs. Communism, the 5-time Emmy nominated and Peabody Award winning Night Will Fall, and Leonardo diCaprio’s Before the Flood, released by National Geographic. He also executive produced and directed the Golden Globe-nominated FOX series Prison Break.

Ratner is the CEO and Co-Founder of RatPac Entertainment, a film finance and media company, in partnership with Len Blavatnik’s Access Entertainment. In 2013, RatPac partnered with Dune Entertainment on a multi-year motion picture co-financing arrangement with Warner Bros. for up to 75 films including Gravity, The LEGO Movie, Annabelle, American Sniper, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Conjuring 2, Lights Out, Suicide Squad, The LEGO Batman Movie, Kong: Skull Island, and Wonder Woman, and the upcoming films Dunkirk, Justice League, and Stephen King’s It. RatPac has also partnered with New Regency on numerous films including the Academy Award-winning Birdman and The Revenant. Internationally, Warner Bros. and RatPac have formed a joint venture with Warner Bros., China Media Capital, and WPP to finance local content. RatPac Entertainment has co-financed 70 theatrically released motion pictures exceeding $13 billion in worldwide box office receipts. RatPac’s co-financed films have been nominated for 52 Academy Awards, 23 Golden Globes and 39 BAFTAs and have won 22 Academy Awards, 7 Golden Globes, and 17 BAFTAs.

Because of the overwhelming interest of directors moving back to film and last year’s strong showing of shorts captured on film, HollyShorts added a film-only category this year that received a substantial amount of submissions. Ultimately, 10 shorts were selected: Miss World by Georgia Fu, Frank Embree by Skinner Meyers, Nathan Loves Ricky Martin by Steven Arrigada, Real Artists by Cameo Wood, Goodnight Eulogy Created by Roi Vissel / Director: Yonatan Weinstein, To Be Free by Esther de Rothschild, Little Bird by Georgia Oakley, That Unusual Brick by Jesse Burks, Blood Letting by William Davis. Jason Ruscio’s newly restored film eclipse which premiered at Telluride and won top prize at the Student Academy Awards is also in the category and screens on August 18 at the festival.

Participants of the 2017 HollyShorts Festival got to see, hold and take pictures with Kodak’s new Super 8 Camera which will hit the market in early 2018. The camera includes a near 16 X 9 frame size that is 13% larger than traditional Super 8, has the most sophisticated motor ever in an 8mm camera and has a C-mount for interchangeable lens. It is a professional camera that can be used to make feature films, television series and any sort of motion picture without having to have a film loader.

Brett Ratner is a Board of Trustees member of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance. He currently sits on the boards of Ghetto Film School, Chrysalis, Best Buddies, and the Los Angeles Police Foundation, while serving on the Dean’s Council of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and on the Board of Directors at Tel Aviv University’s School of Film and Television. In 2017, he was honored with a coveted star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. For tickets to the Keynote celebration and HollyShorts Awards please visit: http://www.hollyshorts.com/

The 13th edition of HollyShorts, which is LA’s biggest shorts film festival has been taking place this week at the TCL Chinese 6 Theater, Roosevelt Hotel, and other venues throughout Hollywood. This year’s festival received an all-time record of over 4,000 submissions from 65 countries. The 400 + shorts are competing for the Best Short Film Prize and Grand Jury Prize, Best Director among other top categories. HollyShorts Platinum Sponsors are HBO, Kodak, Peroni, TCL Chinese Theater, Roosevelt Hotel, Evil Slave, and ShortsTV. Additional supporters include Deep Eddy Vodka, Integro, Lexus Short Films, Monster Energy, San Antonio Winery, Color Space, True Vision, Final Draft and Stage 32.